The serene elegance of Welch’s art has gained him an impressive reputation as one the leading sculptors of his generation. Equally impressive is the amount of work he has achieved since he first took up a chisel. Carving stone is a slow business, but for Welch the long hours in the studio have always been a journey of discovery, a complete and fulfilling way of living. The dream images that emerged from his workshop, the results of a long meditative process, now adorn public and private spaces all over the world.
Welch’s distinctive repertoire of shapes - moon-discs, planetary spheres, candle-flames, plant shoots or primeval sea creatures - have become archetypal forms that resonate in the collective unconscious. The four elements - earth, water, fire and air - are invoked in the most unlikely of materials, the density and weight of stone transformed to apparent lightness. His creations appear to float, flicker, or balance on a point, ready to take to the air. They are talismanic shapes, images to dream on.
Words by Jenny Pery
